Ashraf Ghani officials helped smuggling of almost $1 billion out of Afghanistan

The office of Ashraf Ghani, the US-backed Afghan president, had been informed about the problem, insiders say. But it did nothing to stop it.
 

According to Business insider report $59.7 million in cash and gold went from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan through the port of Hairatan during the first three months of 2021, but during a 13-month period running from May 2019 through May 2020, the total was a staggering $824 million.
 

Though the couriers failed to declare the money to Afghan officials as it left the country, Uzbek customs agents on the other side of the border recorded the cash and gold on handwritten customs forms.

Those records were obtained by Afghan anti-corruption officials as part of an investigation into money smuggling, and they form the basis of a scathing report documenting a river of cash flowing out of the country.
 

Much of the money, the Uzbek customs forms show, was bound for the United Arab Emirates, where top Afghan officials escaped when their government collapsed last year.
 

Rumors that Ghani left with more than $169 million in cash from public coffers, but questions remain about Ghani’s considerable personal wealth and use of discretionary funds from Afghanistan’s budget.

Today, the former president resides in the United Arab Emirates, where he established a temporary headquarters in the luxury suite of a 5-star hotel, according to the Wall Street Journal.
 

Those in Ghani’s inner circle appear to have prospered during their time in power. In June, the Wall Street Journal reported that the former president’s ministers have been snapping up rental properties in California and villas in the UAE, where the bulk of the smuggled money was headed. The UAE is also the home of Ghani and Noor, the former provincial governor with alleged ties to the Hairatan smuggling ring.